With Sights Set on COP22, Group Offers Roadmap for 'Fair Future' in Warming World

"A future without climate chaos for all human beings on our planet is only possible if we don't pin our hopes on large-scale technologies. Instead, we have to make sure that the energy and agricultural transitions are being pushed forward as fast as possible," said Heinrich Böll Foundation president Barbara Unmüßig. (Illustration: Friends of the Earth Germany)

At the upcoming United Nations climate conference in Morocco, negotiations for how to fulfill COP21's agreement to limit global warming to 1.5º Celsius must emphasize methods that will also alleviate poverty and climate injustice, rather than leaning on "questionable technologies" such as geoengineering and carbon offset, says Friends of the Earth (FOE) Germany.

The climate conference will take place in Marrakech, Morocco, from November 7-18.

The report takes aim at popular so-called "negative emissions" technologies, such as geoengineering, carbon offset regimes, and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), arguing that leaders must pursue true sustainability instead.

"The fatal flaw of all negative emissions technology proposals is this: The hope for an atmospheric line of credit allows today's urgent need for radical reductions in CO2 emissions to fall by the wayside," the report argues. "What's currently Plan B is in fact the best way to force Plan A into the background—a fundamentally different economy, one that preserves the planet for all forms of life."

Instead of such "questionable technologies," the report argues for policies that have poverty reduction and climate justice as their central focus.

"In reaction to the Paris Agreement, we need to phase out coal, speed up the transition to renewables, phase out combustion engines, and protect and restore forests and soils," explained Hubert Weiger, chairman of Friends of the Earth Germany, in a statement.

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"It is crystal clear that effective climate protection and equitable, sustainable development can only be considered together," added Heinrich Böll Foundation president Barbara Unmüßig:

A future without climate chaos for all human beings on our planet is only possible if we don't pin our hopes on large-scale technologies. Instead, we have to make sure that the energy and agricultural transitions are being pushed forward as fast as possible. Technological fixes such as geoengineering are betting on future possibilities such as sucking CO2 from the atmosphere or keeping sunlight away from the Earth. This is a dangerous distraction from the necessary steps that we can already implement today. The coming-into-force of the Paris Agreement asks for exactly this change in course.

"As northern countries that have caused the climate catastrophe, we need to lead by example," Weiger continued. "We cannot count on unproven, costly, and ecologically risky negative emission technologies to save us from climate chaos. If we postpone implementing the traditional climate mitigation solutions, we will miss the rapidly closing window of opportunity to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees."

Indeed, new research has shown that the goal to limit warming to 1.5º is already a long-shot.

"The vague hope that we could all survive in a world that is 3 degrees warmer than before industrialization is deceptive," said Pirmin Spiegel, director general of MISEREOR. "It is our responsibility to safeguard the lives of millions of people by limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. This is not only a technological challenge; instead, it has widespread societal and cultural implications that we all have to face."

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Further

Prepping for Saturday's protests in D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser went for the grand gesture - and a symbolic middle finger to the racist cowering in the White House - and had "Black Lives Matter" painted in yuge yellow letters on the city's main drag. Bowser's action, aimed at recognizing the thousands in the streets "craving to be heard and to be seen," was criticized by some activists as "performative distraction," but many celebrated it as a vital tribute: "We are saying it loud. We are here."

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